Peter Holden
'Peter Holden '(born 5 September 1964) is the wife of Vikki Charringsworth and father of Emma Holden Description Peter Holden is a tall man. He wears thick, square glasses which just skim the remaining tuffs of brown hair that covers his otherwise bald head. He has brown eyes and pale skin. He is also one of those rare people who fitted perfectly into a suit even at the age of 15, making him look older than he actually was. Early life Peter was born into an average family in East London. Although he never went without anything, it was the lack of wealth in his family which led him to begin his own busniess at the early age of 15. School years and first early busniess ventures. Peter never really fitted in at school. He always had a knack of getting into trouble due to boredom and he agrivated his teachers. Yet he never really fitted in with any of the pupils at the school, making a few freinds but never really staying in touch with them. His intrests lay outside the classroom and at 16 he left with very few qualifications to expand the busniess he had started at just 15 much to his mother's disapointement- she wanted him to pursue a 'proper job'. He first offered up his services, cleaning cars for the local residents and very soon a few of his old classmates began working for him. He earned a fair amount of money but a dispute soon broke out when Peter reduced the hours he worked to pursue other money making schemes but continued to ask for a share of what his workers earned. Un-happy and feeling they could make more money by offering their services without Peter, they left and his first busniess venture collasped. Finally feeling he had now choice, Peter then began working part time in a factory while he poured over busniess ideas in his free time. The factory where he worked manufactored parts for big car companies. He wondered whether he could start selling spare parts on for a profit. The manager of the factory welcomed the idea and gave Peter a discount on his first order allowing him to keep his job whilst making some extra money in his spare time. The busniess grew rapidly but despite the popularity and demand for spare car parts he was never able to earn enough to invest in the more expensive parts or justify quitting his job. When a supervisors job came up his manager offered him the position. He was delighted by an increase in wages. Intrest in Newspapers By 25, Peter was fustrated that he hadn't persevered with school and quickly becomming bored of life in the factory and still having to live with his parents. His mother had become housebound thanks to physical illness and his brothers had to take care of her. In a bid to conquer what he percived as his ignorance, Peter began reading more. He bought a lot of books and started buying the papers regulary particuarly the broadsheets. In fact the newspaper industry intrested him more and more not so much journalism but the busniess of selling papers. The death of his mother who was in her 80's, while bringing on a deep sadness, also left him with £2,000. Having a brainwave he decided to invest the money as a shareholder in his local paper which had fallen on bad times. When it seemed likely that the newspaper was going to collapse all together Peter stepped in and bought the remaing shares for just £100, a record breaking sum. He then started re-building the busniess, selling off the offices, reducing advertising costs and the amount of pages left to fill in a bid to save staff. He hired several editors to try and run the paper but few seemed capable. Fustrated he noticed that one of the most senior journalists was also the most reliable. Finding her easy to work with and with a good sense of homour, Peter apointed Vikki Charringsworth as the paper's editor. Expanding empire After years of hard work, Peter finally realised he had saved the paper and soon began to reep the rewards in terms of finance. He was able to buy himself a nice house and later realised he had fallen in love with Vikki- the paper's editor. They bought a house together in a posh area of London. They put off having children as Peter announced he had plans to expand his media empire. He set up a local radio station and was able to employ more journalists to run it. With it reguarly achiveing ratings to rival the main local radio, Peter enjoyed years of sucess and finally decided the time was right for him to start a family with Vikki. Emma was born and soon after Vikki was straight back to work, asking her own retired mum and Dad to look after her while she worked. When Emma was 11 she started to look after herself and it was around this time that Peter decided to sell the paper and for a record profit and invest the earnings in two other regional newspapers. Finacial crisis of 2007/8 and the after effects With the onset of the internet and the finacial crisis of 2007/8, Peter's busniess began to collapse around him. Both the papers he had bought were declining in circulation and profit and he quickly realised unless he acted quickly he would be forced into bankrupcy. With Vikki Holden, also feeling the strain as the new owners of her paper started to enforce cutbacks, Peter's marriage began to collapse and fearing the effect it would have on Emma, the two decided to send their daughter to boarding school while Peter attempted to save his busniess and his marriage. Emma's return from Fare Isle When Peter's daughter Emma returned after the horrific events at Fare Isle, he, like his wife, decided that there were far more important things in life than wealth or large houses and he sold off the two newspapers he earned at a loss, fully accepting that they would have to downsize their house and potentially sell their family car. However, a change in forutne in the way of comphensation for what had happened to Emma, meant the family would be secure for years to come. Peter also rectified relations with hiw wife although she continued to be just as highly strung.